Chaos and Betrayal
by IsoldeAhlstrom
Summary: SPOILER ALERT FOR EPISODE 36! This is my take on the thoughts of one character during the episode. I won't say anything else, but this can be read as a stand-alone from my other two one-shots. Now a two-shot, still spoilers...
1. Chaos and Betrayal

**SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 36!  
**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! **This is only a one-shot, not technically connected to my other KR Gaim one-shots, but could be read as such. Again, Kamen Rider Gaim and the Kamen Rider franchise do not belong to me.

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_What have I done?_

It's complete chaos in Zawame City. Inves are everywhere, no one's on the streets, and the Yggdrasil building is covered in vines. The bandages covering his wounds are unneeded now, so he finds an abandoned clothes store. He can't pay for anything, he has no money, and there's no one to pay, but he desperately needs a shirt. There's not much left in the store, but he eventually chooses a grey-green t-shirt that's his size, though it's a little loose. Idly he wonders if he should just leave the suit coat behind, but as there are no other jackets or coats in the store, he slips the tattered jacket back over his new shirt. Leaving the store behind, he wanders for a while, before spying a familiar face.

_Kazuraba Kouta…_

He silently follows Kazuraba-tachi, unsure of his next move. Has Ryouma turned Kazuraba and his friends? Is he planning on using them as well? He just doesn't know. So until he comes up with a plan, he'll keep an eye on them, though he knows he can't follow them indefinitely. When the three stop at a restaurant he's never heard of before, he stays outside and thinks. Eventually he decides to wait until Kazuraba's alone to talk with him, but he doesn't count on an unexpected surprise.

_Mitsuzane?_

Certainly, he didn't expect to see his younger brother, though he's happy that he seems okay. Although, he's never seen him dressed like that. When he exits the parlor, he's not surprised when Kazuraba is following his brother. Yet, something about the situation seems wrong. If Kazuraba was alone, then Mitsuzane should have felt safe enough to talk to him in there. Yet they're headed into a different part of the city. His instincts screaming a warning, he follows the two young men into a secluded part of the city, made all the more isolated by the lack of people.

_What is going on?_

He can't believe his eyes. He is frozen, unable to move, forced to watch as his younger brother attacks his friend. Why is Mitsuzane attacking Kazuraba? What is he talking about? Kazuraba's hope, a disease? Isn't that what drew Mitsuzane to Kazuraba in the first place? Isn't Kazuraba's hope what makes him strong? Why does Mitsuzane think that Kazuraba has taken everyone important to him away? He stares in horror as Mitsuzane pulls out a Genesis Driver. _His_ Genesis Driver. Why does he have that? His ears are filled with a roaring. Mitsuzane blames Kouta for his death? When did his Mitsuzane become this insane person?

_Why, Mitsuzane?_

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**A/N:** This is just my musings on Takatora's thoughts during Episode 36. This is my first time venturing into the mind of this particular character, so I don't know if I have his character quite right. If you would care to leave a review telling me what you think, that'd be lovely.

7/1: Thank you, SplatKirby, for reminding me that it was NOT episode 35, but episode 36 that just came out. XD Sorry! That's fixed now.

3/29: Changed "Kota" to "Kouta." I can't decide which spelling I like better, so I'll try to keep it consistently the latter from now on.


	2. How did it come to this?

_Why did this happen?_

He can't believe it. Mitsuzane, his own brother, is working with the Overlords to take over the world, something he wouldn't have believed if he hadn't seen the proof with his own eyes. Moreover, he's so far gone that he will attack someone who used to be his best friend, someone he looked up to, which doesn't bode very well for him. He stands where he'd stepped in between Mitsuzane and Kazuraba, feeling numb. Kazuraba and Baron are talking in the background, but the words are white noise to him. When they head away from the location, he turns and follows them, footsteps sounding dully in his ears, his heart in pieces.

_How did it come to this?_

He learns of Ryouma's disappearance and the current situation from Minato Yoko, and watches Reiko standing forlornly in a corner. He can't stand seeing that sad look on her face, so he heads out and wanders the city, trying to calm his troubled mind. Eventually his feet take him back to the same restaurant from earlier and he sees Kouta enter. On a whim he follows. He lingers in the hallway, and is surprised to hear that Kazuraba isn't hungry. Although, if he's perfectly honest with himself, he's not very hungry either, but at least he has an excuse. At least he's wearing a Sengoku Driver, albeit an incomplete one with the weakest Lockseed providing energy. Dismissing those thoughts, he heads around the corner.

_Where did I go wrong?_

It's as if one thing going wrong caused an avalanche of other problems. He wonders sometimes if Kazuraba understands Mitsuzane better than he does. Hearing the young man talk about Mitsuzane soothes him a little, but he still knows that this is all his fault. Maybe Mitsuzane would have turned out differently had he been born Kouta's brother. Maybe Kouta should have been born into their family. For a moment, he sees their family as it could have been with Kouta as the cheerful, slightly rebellious middle child, and his heart aches inside of him at the thought. But there's no time for daydreaming. This has to end now.

_Let's settle this, Mitsuzane._

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_So, after letting the previous chapter sit as a one-shot for months, I started watching bits of Gaim again, and got inspired. Here you go!  
_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gaim. I own Reiko, but nothing else._


End file.
